Richard Tronson, or Photography as a Realm of Controlled Strangeness
Against the grain of smooth, conventional aesthetics, Richard Tronson explores photography in its most uncertain, shifting dimensions. In his work, the image is never fixed, never merely decorative: it trembles, it resists, it unsettles — and it’s precisely for that, that it becomes compelling. Tronson does not seek immediate beauty or technical perfection; instead, he hunts for that tiny fracture through which reality unravels, is transformed, and transcends itself. A strange shadow, a misplaced glance, a palpable silence — his photographs always carry a subtle sense of vertigo. His photographic practice thrives on fertile tension between spontaneity and structure, between chance and thought. He creates images not meant to be merely seen, but to be pondered. He doesn’t photograph to explain, but to raise questions, stir emotions, and create a certain distance. Influenced by the great names of visual experimentation — Man Ray, August Sander, the Symbolists — Tronson embraces an approach that is both intellectually grounded and instinctively driven. Though infused with artistic and literary references, his universe remains fiercely personal. He doesn’t aim to seduce, but rather to initiate a dialogue one that may at times be unsettling with the viewer. A photographer of doubt, curiosity, and constant questioning, Richard Tronson plays with codes, defies expectations, and embraces the risk of strangeness the way others pursue beauty. His work reflects a gaze that is free, demanding, and vibrantly alive.
Website : richardtronson.com / Instagram : @richard_tronson
Currently on view:
“PRESENCES” – Solo Show until May 10, 2025.
Galerie 20 THORIGNY, 20, rue de Thorigny Paris 3e
@galerie20thorigny
Your first photographic trigger?
Richard Tronson: Quite late, at a friend’s wedding. I was asked to take some photos to capture this unique moment. I did create images — but completely out of sync with what I had been asked to do.
The image-maker who inspires you?
Richard Tronson: The one who surprises me with their presence when I look through the lens.
The image you wish you had taken?
Richard Tronson: Any photograph by Man Ray.
The one that moved you the most?
Richard Tronson: Very old photos from family albums.
The one that made you angry?
Richard Tronson: Fake photos.
A key image in your personal pantheon?
Richard Tronson: Rétroprojection 1.
A photographic memory from your childhood?
Richard Tronson: Me as a child in Istria with my family, in front of the old Peugeot 404.
The image that haunts you?
Richard Tronson: The portraits by photographer August Sander.
If budget were no object, what work would you own?
Richard Tronson: A Vermeer.
What’s the essential quality to be a good photographer?
Richard Tronson: Knowing the worlds of the photographers who came before.
The secret to the perfect image?
Richard Tronson: Its elusiveness.
The person you’d like to photograph?
Richard Tronson: The one who moves me when I discover them through my lens.
An indispensable book?
Richard Tronson: Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Your childhood camera?
Richard Tronson: Pentax 6×7 Asahi.
And today’s?
Richard Tronson: The same one.
Your favorite addiction?
Richard Tronson: Curiosity.
The best way to disconnect?
Richard Tronson: Sleep.
Your personal relationship with the image?
Richard Tronson: Very complicated.
Your greatest quality?
Richard Tronson: Doubt.
Your latest crazy whim?
Richard Tronson: Getting back into cycling.
An image to feature on a new banknote?
Richard Tronson: A picture of a forest.
A job you’d never want to do?
Richard Tronson: Art critic.
Your greatest professional extravagance?
Richard Tronson: being nude during an entire photo shoot at the School of Medicine museum because my models were nude and asked me to join them.
Which photograph changed the world?
Richard Tronson: The very first photographs ever taken.
The last thing you did for the first time?
Richard Tronson: Tidied up my studio.
What interests you most in an image?
Richard Tronson: Surprise — and in my own images, the feeling of strangeness I create in the viewer.
For you, what’s the difference between photography and art photography?
Richard Tronson: The price.
A place you never tire of?
Richard Tronson: The Mediterranean Sea.
Your biggest regret?
Richard Tronson: Not having several lives to go even further.
The social media platform you’re most active on?
Richard Tronson: Instagram — it’s very convenient.
Color or black & white?
Richard Tronson: Color.
Daylight or studio light?
Richard Tronson: Natural or artificial — depending on the situation.
The most photogenic city, in your opinion?
Richard Tronson: The one you love.
If God existed, would you ask Him to pose for you or take a selfie with Him?
Richard Tronson: I’d ask Him to pose for me — but not in tragedy, like His son at the end of His life.
If I could organize your dream dinner, who would be at the table?
Richard Tronson: Odilon Redon and the leading figures of the 19th-century Symbolist movement.
The image that best reflects the current state of the world?
Richard Tronson: The selfie.
What is the world lacking today?
Richard Tronson: Restraint.
If you had to start all over again?
Richard Tronson: I’d avoid wasting time on things that aren’t essential.
Final word?
Richard Tronson: “There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion about life.” — Federico Fellini
